City Road Lock facts for kids
City Road Lock, 2008
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| Waterway | Regent's Canal |
|---|---|
| County | Islington Greater London |
| Maintained by | Canal & River Trust |
| Fall | 8 feet (2.4 m) |
| Distance to Limehouse Basin |
4 miles (6.4 km) |
| Distance to Paddington Basin |
4.9 miles (7.9 km) |
| Coordinates | 51°31′58″N 0°05′56″W / 51.532652°N 0.098920°W |
City Road Lock is a special kind of water gate on the Regent's Canal in London. It helps boats move up or down between different water levels. You can find it in the London Borough of Islington, just east of the Islington Tunnel and west of the City Road Basin.
Contents
History of City Road Lock
Canals were once like the highways of their time. They helped transport goods across the country. In 1801, a canal called the Grand Junction Canal reached Paddington Basin in London. People then wanted to connect it further east to the River Thames.
Building the Regent's Canal
Plans for the Regent's Canal were approved in 1812. This new canal would stretch from Paddington to Limehouse Basin. By 1816, part of the canal was open, reaching Camden Town.
However, there was a big hill between Camden Town and where City Road Lock would be. Workers had to dig a long tunnel, about 960 yards (878 meters) long, through this hill. The canal company ran out of money before the tunnel was finished.
Overcoming Challenges
Luckily, the company got a big loan of £200,000 from the Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners. This money helped them finish the canal. Work started again in December 1817, and the entire Regent's Canal opened on 1 August 1820.
On opening day, boats from Manchester arrived. They passed through City Road Lock to reach City Road Basin. There, they unloaded their goods before heading back north.
A Busy Waterway
City Road Lock became very important. The City Road Basin was a much better place for goods to arrive in London than Paddington Basin. This helped the canal company make a lot of money. Many businesses, like the transport company Pickfords, moved to the area. It became a major hub for distributing goods into central London.
The area around the lock often got crowded. This was because it took a while for boats to get through the nearby tunnel. To help speed things up, a special towing boat was installed in 1830. This boat pulled itself along a chain at the bottom of the canal. This clever system was used for over 100 years, right up until the 1930s!
How Locks Changed Over Time
Like all the other locks on the Regent's Canal, City Road Lock was originally built as a pair. Having two locks side-by-side helped save water. Water could be moved between the two locks instead of being completely emptied out.
Operating these paired locks was a bit tricky. So, during the canal's busiest years, lock-keepers worked in shifts 24 hours a day. They made sure boats could always pass through.
As trains became more popular, fewer boats used the canal. The number of lock-keepers was reduced. On weekends, padlocks were used to stop people from operating the locks.
Today, commercial boats rarely use the canal. Instead, many people enjoy boating for fun. To prevent flooding from mistakes when operating the locks, one of the paired locks at City Road was changed in the 1980s. Its gates were removed, and a small waterfall (weir) was built instead.
Where is City Road Lock?
Every lock on the Regent's Canal, including City Road Lock, lowers or raises boats by 8 feet (2.4 meters). There are special places for visitors to moor their boats between the lock and the tunnel.
Boats using this lock can be up to 72 feet (22 meters) long and 14.5 feet (4.4 meters) wide. They can also have a draught (how deep they sit in the water) of up to 4 feet (1.2 meters).
The next lock to the west is St Pancras Lock. It's about 1.2 miles (1.9 km) away, past the Islington Tunnel and Battlebridge Basin. The next lock downstream, to the east, is Sturt's Lock. This is about 0.6 miles (1 km) away, beyond City Road Basin and Wenlock Basin.
If you want to visit by public transport, the closest London Underground station is Angel. It's on the Northern line and is a short walk southwest of the tunnel entrance.
